Umm, Yeah: Biden's Student Loan Announcement is a "BFD"
Umm, Yeah: Biden's Student Loan Announcement is a "BFD"
Once you look at these numbers, no one can tell you that what the president just did is not transformative. It absolutely is
Publisher’s Riff
We don’t think it’s really sunk in, yet. But President Biden’s long and anxiously awaited student loan debt cancellation announcement is a lot more significant and transformative than anyone had expected. As the news cycle churned on over the past few days, political grapevines and media whispers had Biden simply cutting down debt by only $10,000. Instead, the White House kept their deliberations so hushed and tightly sealed that no one knew that they were going for a well thought out and brilliantly timed moonshot on the day of disclosure.
Indeed, this bold (and somewhat risky) move also seemed specifically designed for systematically overburdened Black student loan borrowers. For many Black college graduates, it may end up as a form of higher education reparations. Here are some key thoughts to keep in mind …
Not only did Biden 1) cancel $10,000 worth of debt - which is still substantial - for all borrowers who make under $125,000 per year and who DID NOT receive a federal Pell Grant, but 2) he then doubled that amount for borrowers who DID receive a Pell Grant. He cancelled $20,000 worth of debt for borrowers who received a Pell Grant (and also make under $125,000 a year). The White House’s own graphic makes this abundantly clear what just happened …
This affects 43 million Americans or 96 percent of all student loan borrowers holding debt.
Even Congressional “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) can’t deny how big this is …
Politically: he just shut the critics down. Pay close attention to what was just proposed, get the math right and carefully step into the conversation. Naysayers and haters, such as Bernie-driven progressives, are still staying stuck on the outdated “it’s just $10,000” headline when, obviously, it’s way more than that. Republicans are outright lying that it “only helps the elite” when, clearly, no, it does none of that. This announcement from Biden took everyone, including his detractors, completely by surprise. No one saw “Dark Brandon” coming …
Contrary to Republican objections, this directive is not designed for rich people …
But, wait, it gets better …
According to the National Center for Education Statistics ….
The 2015-2016 school year is the most recent federal data we have on Pell Grant awards, so there is a need for an update. But, if this is the case, nearly 60 percent of the $20,000 debt cancellations will impact Black borrowers. More here on Pell Grant data.
The White House is already noting that 20 million borrowers will see their student loan balances wiped out. Correct: 20 million people are about to see a zero balance on their student loan bill.
If 60 percent of all Pell Grant recipients are Black, that means 12 million Black Americans are about to see the complete elimination of their student loan debt as a result of Biden’s announcement. That is more than 28 percent of the total Black population in the United States.
For the rest? Even if you’re still paying for undergraduate loans, this new directive now caps repayments for all borrowers at just 5 percent of their total income.
Could he have done more? Of course. But, this is already rather genius the way it’s been designed. It’s still quite generous and it is well-played politically. It’s also a complete game changer that’s about to positively impact millions of lives. If Democrats retake more of Congress, he sets it up for them to pass legislation to eliminate the rest. Keep in mind: this is the very first president to tackle this. It’s also the very first administration to understand the enormity of the situation: The American economy is saddled with $1.8 trillion of student loan debt already, which is nearly 8 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (which currently stands at nearly $25 trillion).
Let the White House’s own Fact Sheet tell it. There’s actually more.